Yogurt in the Spotlight for First Time at NYS Fair!

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball and Acting State Fair Director Troy Waffner today announced that the first-ever New York yogurt bar, called YO2GO, will debut at the 2014 Great New York State Fair. YO2GO will take up 40 feet of space in the New York State Fair’s Dairy Products Building and provide consumers with two different styles of yogurt – regular vanilla and Greek – made with 100 percent New York milk.

“New York State is the number one producer of yogurt in the entire country, and this year we are pairing this world-class homegrown product with the largest agritourism hotspot in the entire state – the Great New York State Fair,” said Commissioner Ball.

“On behalf of the entire team here at the Fair, I welcome YO2GO to the 2014 Fair and encourage fairgoers to check out this first-class exhibit beginning August 21,” said Acting Director Waffner.

The Dairy Products Building has played host to New York’s first-class dairy products since 1976, when a group of dairy industry representatives got together to create New York State Dairy Exhibits, Inc., a not-for profit organization that works to promote the state’s dairy industry at the Fair through exhibits that have become tradition such as the butter sculpture and the Rainbow Milk Bar. A recent departure from the Dairy Products Building opened up 40 feet of space at the 2014 Fair. In March, the NYS Fair Dairy Products Building Advisory Task Force, which is part of the not-for-profit organization, got together to map out a new exhibit for 2014.

“We are very happy to announce that, in addition to buying a fresh cold glass of milk at the Rainbow Milk Bar, Fair visitors to the Dairy Products building will also be able to purchase fresh regular and Greek style yogurt with great toppings such as strawberries, blueberries and pineapple. With the high popularity of yogurt with consumers, we felt it was the right time to introduce this high protein, low calorie and refreshing value added dairy product option to Fair attendees. We think it will be very popular!” said Bruce Krupke, Chairperson of the NYS Fair Dairy Products Building Advisory Task Force.

YO2GO will offer consumers two different styles of yogurt: regular vanilla and Greek yogurt. A number of different toppings will be available for consumers to add to the yogurt right at the point of purchase, including black cherry, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, peach, mango, carrots, celery, granola, and dark chocolate bits. Dishes will be served in a parfait-style presentation (yogurt, topping, yogurt, topping). Low-fat cottage cheese will also be available at YO2GO as New York is also the largest producer of cottage cheese in the U.S.

Yogurt at YO2GO will come from Cornell University’s new licensed dairy plant, made with all New York milk. The state-of-the-art dairy processing plant supports dairy foods teaching, research and extension programs, processes milk and milk products from the Cornell dairy herd, and supplies dairy products to the Cornell campus.

In May 2014, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that, for the second year in a row, New York is the yogurt capital of the nation. Preliminary data indicated that in 2013, New York produced 741 million pounds of yogurt, up from 695 million pounds in 2012. As confirmed by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, New York was the top ranked yogurt producer in 2013, a position it ascended to in 2012. New York once again exceeded California, which produced 591 million pounds of yogurt in 2013. For the entire country, USDA-NASS reported total yogurt production of 4,718 million pounds for 2013, up from 4,416 million pounds in 2012. New York accounted for 15.7% of total US yogurt production in 2013.

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